Microphones won't be turned off if performers make political statements at Electric Picnic

Ellen O'Donoghue

Electric Picnic organisers have said microphones won't be switched off if performers make political statements on stage this weekend.

It comes after The Mary Wallopers had their performance silenced at a festival in the UK, and controversy over multiple Kneecap performances recently.

Melvin Benn from Festival Republic told Newstalk that it was really important for them to add Kneecap to the lineup.

"No, mics won’t be switched off, I mean you know they’re [Kneecap are] great kids, they’re great lads, they know, they’ve got really important songs, they’re brilliant live, but they’ve also got really important messages," Benn told the station.

"They didn’t do anything wrong at Glastonbury. It’s yet to be proven that they’ve done anything wrong anywhere else in anywhere in the world so, you know, they’re on home territory here, and I think they’ll be really relaxed, and the crowd will be really appreciative of them," he said.

The issue of performers' sound being cut off on stage while making political statements while performing has been brought to the forefront after The Mary Wallopers claimed they were "cut off" during their performance at the Victorious Festival in Portsmouth for displaying a Palestinian flag on stage.

Benn was asked about what happened to  The Mary Wallopers at the Victorious Festival at the weekend.

Mr Benn said: “It was shocking what happened to The Mary Wallopers, it was absolutely shocking and I’m glad that artists ended up withdrawing as a result of it, it definitely won’t be my policy.”

A spokesperson for the festival said the band had its set cut short for using a “discriminatory” chant, which the band rejected.

The group shared a video on Instagram of their performance, claiming that the organisers’ statement was “misleading” and that a festival crew member had interfered with their show.

The statement read: “Yesterday, a famine was declared in Gaza, where at least 65 people were killed by Israeli attacks, all the while Israel pushed ahead with plans to split the West Bank in two. These are the important facts about yesterday.

“We are uploading this video so everybody can see @victoriousfestival cut our gig short for having a Palestinian flag on stage.

“The festival have released a misleading statement to the press claiming they cut our sound because of a discriminatory chant, and not the band’s call to Free Palestine.

“Our video clearly shows a Victorious crew member coming on stage, interfering with our show, removing the flag from the stage and then the sound being cut following a chant of “Free Palestine”. The same crew member is later heard in the video saying ‘you aren’t playing until the flag is removed’.

“We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately.

“We know this is getting some attention and we don’t want another distraction which takes attention away from the genocide that is happening in Palestine.

“FREE PALESTINE.”

In its statement, a spokesperson for Victorious said: “We spoke to the artist before the performance regarding the festival’s long-standing policy of not allowing flags of any kind at the event, but that we respect their right to express their views during the show.

“Although a flag was displayed on stage contrary to our policy, and this was raised with the artist’s crew, the show was not ended at this point, and it was the artist’s decision to stop the song.

“The decision by the event management to cut the sound and end the performance was only taken after the band used a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context.

“To be clear, we respect the right of artists to use their platform to express their views within the inclusive nature of the event and it was not the band’s call to ‘Free Palestine’ which resulted in this outcome.”

The Mary Wallopers received support from Kneecap, who wrote in a post on X: “Speak up against genocide in England and you’re treated like a criminal. Up the Mary Wallopers.”

A number of bands who were set to play at Victorious Festival pulled out following the incident, some just hours before they were due to perform.

The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords and The Academic announced that they would no longer perform at the Portsmouth music festival.

As the bands announced they would no longer perform, the organisers issued another statement on Instagram which read: “The Mary Wallopers are a fantastic band and we were very much looking forward to their performance at Victorious on Friday.

“We didn’t handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached.

“This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen. We would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned.

“We absolutely support the right of artists to freely express their views from the stage, within the law and the inclusive nature of the event. Our policy of not allowing flags of any kind, which has been in place for many years for wider event management and safety reasons, is not meant to compromise that right.

“We accept that, although mics remained live for longer, sound for The Mary Wallopers’ audience was cut as described in the band’s video and that comments after that were not audible to the public.

“We are sorry that this situation has come about and will be making a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people.”